Collections and Archives

Overview of Collections

Bear Tooth Necklaces, 2012.63.1 & 2

The Sitka History Museum’s unique mission to tell the human history of Sitka and the surrounding area is reflected by the breadth and variety of its collection and archives. The historical society’s collection was initially developed in the 1950s when a group of dedicated volunteers founded the society. Isabel Miller, Joe Ashby, and other founding members worked to collect items of historical interest, met regularly, and organized to secure a formal museum space in Centennial Harrigan Hall in downtown Sitka in 1967. Continuing to build upon their pioneering work, the Sitka History Museum has amassed one of the most diverse and largest collections in Sitka comprised of over 8,000 three-dimensional artifacts, several hundred paintings, prints, and examples of fine art, a spectacular collection of nearly 25,000 historic photographs, and more than 100,000 archival documents, all ranging from the 1740s until the present day.

Highlights of the Collection

Archaeological fragments from Vitus Bering’s ship Saint Peter

Russian trade beads, trade goods, and material used in daily living by Russian American colonizers in Sitka in the early and mid-1800s

Russian Orthodox icons and vestments

The original journal from the U.S.S. Ossippee, a U.S. sloop of war present for the official 1867 transfer ceremony when the United States purchased Alaska from Russia

An 1879 painting of the U.S.S. Jamestown, a U.S. sloop of war present in Sitka at the time of the transfer, and purportedly done by the ship’s painter, R.P. Smith.

Letters written by Emily McCorkle Fitzgerald, an army doctor’s wife who lived in Sitka for a two year period after the Transfer

Photographs by Sitka’s most renown photographer of the early 20th century, E.W. Merrill

Mining tools and household items from Chichagof Mine, operational from 1905 until 1942

20th century items related to pulp mill production, logging, and other industries in Sitka and Southeast Alaska

Collections Audit & Refinement Project

The Sitka History Museum will undertake an audit of its collections designed to improve and refine the composition of the collection according to the institution’s collections mission. CLICK HERE to learn more about the project.

Digitizing the Collection

The list above represents only a fraction of our rich holdings. The Sitka History Museum is committed to making its collections accessible to as wide an audience as possible and is currently cataloging its collection to launch an online database of the Museum’s holdings. Until this online resource is made public, we encourage you to contact the curator with any research requests or inquiries about particular topics, artifacts, photographs or archival material. Appointments may also made to view specific collections not currently on exhibit. We also encourage you to follow us on Facebook where we post photographs of our collections and holdings on a regular basis.

Gaps in the Collection

Despite its extraordinary holdings, the Sitka History Museum, continues to expand its collection to better promote the events, stories, and artifacts of Sitka’s human history.

Currently, the museum is seeking the following material:

Tlingit button blanket

Herring rake

Tlingit pipe bowl

Box drum

Halibut hooks

Stone tools including adze, mauls, and chisels

A model Unangan (Aleut) bidarka

Seal skin money from the Russian American Company

Any items bearing the double-headed eagle crest, the symbol of the Russian American Company

Podstakanniki, the glass holders for glasses used in Russian teas

Objects related to the Northwest Coast fur trade

Early daguerreotypes and tintypes of Sitka

Fox pelt

Brown bear pelt

If you are interested in donating any of the above, please Click Here.